Libraries and leisure

Ownership

a) Directories, 1791 onwards:
These may help in identifying occupiers, although not all properties are included, as entries in a directory had to be paid for. They are available in the library. For more details, click on the "directories" link under local history.

b) Census Returns, 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901
These give names and details of occupiers and their families street by street. The Hertfordshire returns are on microfilm in the Local Studies Library. Census returns for the whole of England and Wales from 1841 to 1901 (and Scotland 1841 to 1861) can be viewed on www.ancestry.com and this is available in all Hertfordshire libraries for free.

c) Electoral Registers, 1832 to date
These may prove useful, but remember that they only list those persons (and their qualifying properties) with the right to vote. They can ordered and consulted in the Archive Reading Room. Click on the "electoral registers" link under "local history" for a list of holdings.

d) Names Index
Once you have found a name in connection with the property, check it in the indexes available in the Archive and Library Reading Rooms. References may appear there to title deeds or other documents relating to owners or occupiers.

e) Wills and Inventories
These may give details of property and disposal. They may also reveal from whom the land was purchased or else that the property was copyhold. Inventories of the deceased person's goods, where they survive, often list room by room thus adding to our knowledge of individual houses. An index is available and covers 1415 to 1858.

f) Title Deeds
If the property was at any time part of a large estate, title deeds or other types of estate records may refer to it. References to all of these can be found on the parish index, available on computer in both rooms.

g) Manorial Records
Where property was held by copyhold, changes in ownership will be recorded in manorial court books or rolls. For the majority of the period before 1737, these documents will be written in Latin. An index is available in the Archive Reading Room.

h) Land Tax Assessments
These give names of owners and occupiers and the amount of tax payable. Descriptions of property are often so brief as to be meaningless but where identification is possible they can help a great deal in tracing changes in ownership. These are available on microfilm in the Local Studies Library.

i) Rate Books
Rates for various purposes have been collected in this country on a compulsory basis since 1601. They are based on an assessment of the yearly value of property. Rate books, therefore, contain lists of householders and/or owners with an assessment of their properties and the amount to be collected from them. Houses are usually listed street by street. Rate books are to be found with the records of the local authority for the area in which you are interested. Searchers should first check the relevant ecclesiastical (D/P) and Civil (CP) parish catalogues. Other references relating to the Urban (UDC) and Rural (RDC) District Council areas may be found in the parish index. Further assistance will be given by staff.

j) Public Houses
A transcript of victuallers' recognizances, 1786 - 1828 is available in the Archive reading Room. This does not include the recognizances for the Boroughs of hertford or St Albans. Those for Hertford and St Albans form part of each town's Borough archives. The parish index contains references to title deeds and plans of public houses held by the office. Please ask staff for assistance.

(See also Hertfordshire Inns (2 vols) by W Branch Johnson and Hertfordshire Inns and Public Houses: an historical gazeteer by Graham Joliffe and Arthur Jones (2nd edition 1995) both of which are on the shelves. The 1995 version is for sale in the bookshop.

k) 1910 Inland Revenue Survey
This is held by the office for most of the county (Barnet and Totteridge excepted) and the registers contain details of the ownership and occupation of both land and buildings (Ref IR).